1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improvement for a protective helmet and more particularly for a helmet having at least two front protective shields that are moveable in rotation.
2. Background and Material Information
Protective helmets have long been commonly used in different fields, whether professional, as is the case for military personnel, airplane or helicopter pilots, police officers or firemen, or civil or private use, as is the case for motorcycle users, rally or race car drivers, or construction workers.
There is no lack of applications and numerous helmets are already known which have a rigid outer shell having a substantially spherical shape, equipped with an inner lining, and adapted to nest around the user""s cranium while providing a facial opening for his face at the front. These helmets generally have an inner envelope of synthetic foam adapted to absorb shocks.
Certain helmets also have facial shields adapted to promote the protection of the user""s face while allowing him to observe external events. Thus, helmets provided with an external visor and an internal ocular shield are found in prior art. However, these helmets have numerous disadvantages that are linked to their manufacture, use or cost.
Indeed, it is usually difficult to obtain journals of facial shields on the outer shell and the prior art devices do not satisfy entirely given their frailty, complexity and lack of comfort during use. In addition, since protective helmets are developed to adapt to different types of users, any increase in the number of sizes necessarily implies obtaining an equal number of sizes for most of the accessories and attachments, especially for different facial shields, thus increasing the development cost of these helmets.
Thus, the object of the present invention is to solve the aforementioned disadvantages by means that are simple, reliable, easy to implement and affordable. It has the objective of presenting a protective helmet having several facial shields, the journal configuration of the shields being simplified to allow easy manipulation thereof. This configuration also allows developing several different sizes of helmets while continuing to use a single shield size, for example.
According to its main feature, the protective helmet of the invention is of the type constituted by an outer shell adapted to protect the user""s head and having at least two protective shields rotationally mobile with respect to the shell, and it is characterized in that a first shield is rotationally journalled on the shell, whereas a second shield is rotationally journalled on an intermediary connecting element attached to the shell.
According to an additional feature of the protective helmet, it is characterized in that the first shield is journalled about a pivot axis that is integral with the shell, and the second shield is journalled about a pivot axis that is integral with the connecting element, and in that these two pivot axes are co-axial and are borne by the same transverse axis.
According to the preferred embodiment of the protective helmet of the invention, the main transverse axis bearing the journal axes is arranged in a zone located substantially at the upper end of the user""s ear.
According to an alternative embodiment of the protective helmet of the invention, the rotational axes of the protective shields are not arranged in a co-axial manner.
According to another feature of the protective helmet, it is characterized in that the first shield journalled on the shell is a large sized facial shield adapted to at least partially occupy, when it is in a position of use, a facial opening presented by the helmet, and in that the second shield journalled on the connecting element is an ocular shield adapted to be positioned into a position of use in front of the user""s eyes.
According to an additional feature of the protective helmet of the invention, the connecting element is constituted of two lateral walls connected together by a portion of a spherical cap and is attached to the helmet shell so as to be immoveable with respect thereto.
According to another feature of the protective helmet, the latter is characterized in that the first shield is a facial shield assembled onto a shield support which extends it and which is journalled on the shell about a pivot axis.
According to the preferred embodiment of the protective helmet of the invention, the shield support has two lateral walls, both of them having an attaching member for the facial shield and a pivot opening adapted to cooperate with the journal axis attached to the shell.
According to an additional feature of the protective helmet of the invention, the shield support has a pivot opening adapted to cooperate with a journal axis attached to the shell, and in that the opening and the axis have complementary indexing means adapted to index at least the two extreme positions of the facial shield.
According to another feature of the protective helmet, the latter is characterized in that it has a rigid shock absorbing cap that is maintained in position in the upper portion of the shell, due at least partially to the connecting element.